Forces of Nature

Today we learned more about friction, inertia and force. We slid down the slide on placemats, cardboard boxes, trash bags, and a a blanket. The kids hypothesized on what would cause them move faster. We also tested a piece of wood, stone, rubber animals and an eraser to see which had the least amount of friction. 

We climbed trees and talked about how thankful we were they weren't made of ice and snow. Its been a fun day! Grandma even tested the forces of gravity and F=ma for us on the slide :) We do love her :)

Obedience In The Military

The weather has been gorgeous around here lately! We find ourselves outside enjoying the sunshine, without the extreme heat quite often. I try to take school outdoors as much as possible during our winter months because we know that summer is just around the corner and it will be time again to hunker down and stay cool.

Coming from the midwest, my first summer here was so backwards. I would take the boys out at 7am and walk down to the park. The temperature would already be 100 and by the time we came home 1.5 later, we would be near 110 in mid July. I could not understand why there was no one around, playing. It was summer for goodness sakes! Now, I get it. Our summer is everyone else's winter. Now, I love thinking of our fun activities that I will plan this summer to get us through the heat. Trust me, sunshine and heat is so much better than sleet and blizzards. 

Below, is a picture of some veggie chips I attempted to make one afternoon. I sliced parsnips and turnips and drizzled olive oil and salt. I baked them at 400 degrees, set off the fire alarms and still managed to enjoy them. They were not as good as the store bought veggie  chips but still healthy. 

The kids and I have been studying the military and learning the importance of obedience within the soldiers' life. We listened to Phillip Sousa's marches, fell into rank and followed the leader yelling, " left, right left". Also, the kids took crayons, army vehicles and paper outside and drew pictures of their favorite vehicles. We've been reading a lot of books on military vehicles and I bought water balloons, shaped as grenades and we are just waiting for an 80 degree day to fill them up and have a war. 

The Knighthood

This past week we have been very engulfed in our study of chivalry, knighthoods, castles and kings. Jayden informed me that he is now a page because 7 is the age that a boy's training would have started. To say we have been busy this week would be an understatement. The week started off with a body presentation at a theater downtown, a National Geographic Event where a speaker talked about rowing across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, celebrating my birthday( I was given 4 skeins of yarn- hollah baby!), an amazing art class where the boys learned to paint with Rembrandt techniques, a valentines day breakfast and party and tomorrow- a birthday party.

Above was just a synopsis of our extras, school still continued on this week and we have been working very hard, all of us, on our studies. Obedience to the king. The kids have had sword fights, reenacted a medieval castle life including peasants, squires, prisoners, queen, king, nobles, lords and livestock.

Austen spent hours building a Lego castle. We played MANY castle themed games. If you know anything about our family, we love games and my game closet is a testament to it. We are a bit obsessed :) Jayden beat me in checkers and we are hoping to play chess this upcoming week which means i have to learn chess, this upcoming week.

The kids all designed and created their coat of arms. Something that I have really enjoyed is the enthusiasm that all there show in our unit studies. Moriah's is more free style, but she understands the concept of what we are creating, Austen's is a little more detailed and Jayden is very detailed, looking at a book to create symbols that actually meant something back in the Medieval times. Some of the books we are reading are in the sidebar listed under in Amazon.

We are still working on memorizing the books of the Bible and the armor of God. Glory to God!

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10

yes, those are roses in the background because my husband is AMazing!

Creating 'Everyday' Memories

Our past few days have been spent reading the bible, playing games and learning about obedience all the while practicing it out on a daily basis :) Yesterday, the kids and I cut and began the coloring process of our mini castle. We have moved on to the Medieval time period. Talk has been on chivalry, knighthood, peasants, castles and swords.

The kids have all been having jousting tournaments, sword fighting and Jayden now has a nice bump on the side of his face to prove the ruthlessness of "some" knights in training.

Our days are full of chaos, correction, caring, comforting and kindness. We are working on memorizing all the books of the Bible, learning Psalms 119:9, doing sword drills where Jayden sees how fast he can locate a verse and Austen works on comprehension of the verse.

Mother Goose nursery rhymes on kings and queens have dominated much of our breakfast reading and I am a bit intimidated by making their king and queen outfits. They are learning so much more than I am teaching them and I am thankful for the unschooling environment we are creating in our home.

Life is our tablet, God is the author and we help create the words. Just yesterday, the kids were talking about barons and kings and knights and I cannot believe how much of teacher Jayden is and how much the others learn through his reading. He sits and reads many of the books I check out from the library on our topic, then he talks about it nonchalantly with Austen and Riah and then they create the world for themselves, running rampant upstairs and outside.

Today, let's hike. Let's end up on an adventure we hadn't foreseen and come out victorious. This is our life, nothing spectacular just life.

Lighthouses & Obedience

early in the morning at the boys bible quiz competition

Hannah, a little tired after her nap

waiting for the popcorn to be done

We have switched gears into our THIRD character trait this year. Going through character traits has been so much fun. Last year, we focused on Cooperation for nine months.Yet, I am hopeful that by May we should have four traits under our belts!

I had the kids sit in a circle and we discussed what obedience was: obeying immediately, cheerfully, unconditionally and thoroughly. If all those criteria are not met, than it would not constitute obedience. Some fun ways we used to demonstrate this was playing " Mother May I?", " Simon Says" - however instead of Simon we used , Daddy, Mama, Grandma, Grandpa, Pastor, Police Officer, satan, stranger, etc. to demonstrate who our authority is and who it is not.

The kids also played a fun game called "Ringmaster" where Jayden stood in the middle of a circle and would point to me and ask me to neigh like a horse and I would have to keep neighing until he told me a new animal noise, and then he would point to Austen and ask him to bray like a zebra, for Riah to hiss like a snake. Pretty soon our home sounded like a noisy circus tent and the kids thought we were all quite humorous, especially me :)

We read in the Bible about Abraham and Isaac and how God tested Abraham's obedience when he asked him to sacrifice Isaac on Mt Moriah. Yes we love that mountain. The kids will reenact this story tomorrow- I ran out of time to create a staff and some "wood" for the kids.

I picked up every book known to man on lighthouses at the library, fiction and non fiction. I love LOVE the library!!!! We read " Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie" and talked about Abbie's obedience to her father and how important her obedience was to not only her family but to the lives of the crew on ships in the Atlantic. We also read some other lighthouse books together that were super cute. One was about a boy, a dog and a bear who became friends and then lit the candles atop of the lighthouse and saved a ship from crashing into the rocks.

Finally, we talked about how following wrong authority is like walking in darkness and following the right authority is like walking in the light. If we follow the wrong authority, we will stumble. Psalms 119:105 states, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." I had the boys look into my eyes, as Riah was sleeping downstairs and warned them that there would come at time that the wrong authority or impostor leader would seek to sway them to follow him/her. Yet, when that time comes, hold strong to your faith, your commitment to God and your obedience to God and to your parents and resist the devil.

Wrapping up the day, we talked on electricity, natural and man made lights, we did some science experiments where we made electric loops and had a light bulb turn on and a motor. Discussing the sources of our electricity I showed how important it was for the circuit to be made complete. We will finish this week with a few more light activities and with our focus on obedience. I can't wait!

Popcorn and Ice cream capped off the day and now the kids are sleeping soundly, well most of them. This is the 2nd night in a row Riah has NOT gotten out of bed. Trust me, this is a big deal 'roun these parts.